Secrets and Lies
by shobobbles
Summary: When Shona returns from Europe with her mum, she finds that her friend who went missing just over a year ago has been found dead. At the funeral, she and her other friends receive a message that threatens to expose everything they've been keeping hidden. And Shona has one that she's been keeping even from the other girls. A retelling of the series with an OC who was with Jason.


**A/N: So this is my new fic. I have had 0 inspiration for disposer, hence why it hasn't been updated. But this is my first Pretty Little Liars fic. It's going to be, a retelling of the series, sort of, but the main plot is going to be about additional member of the group (my OC) [who goes through everything with them] and her relationship with Jason. But I'm only going to have Jason actually in the chapters when he's actually in the show. So some things will be changed and I'm not going to lift the dialogue straight from the show. I'll reword some of it but mostly come up with my own.**

 **DISCLAIMER: PRETTY LITTLE LIARS DOES NOT BELONG TO ME ALTHOUGH I WISH IT DID.**

Secrets and Lies – Episode One

HOMECOMING

I held my breath as I stood on the steps of the church. After a year away from home I had returned to find that one of my best friend's funeral was the next say. Alison had gone missing not long before I left and we never found out what happened. A month after her disappearance my mum had gotten a new job in Europe and so we had left, my mum and me for a fresh start.

My mum's contract at her job had expired and we decided to move back to Rosewood and I was nervous. My mum thought it was just returning to the memory of Alison and seeing my other friends after almost a year of no communication – it was just too hard. She was partly right, but there was something else that worried me far more. Jason. Alison's older brother and my ex-boyfriend. We'd been together for about 4 months when Ali disappeared and no one had known we were together. Jason and I had found it too hard to be together once she disappeared, we both reminded each other of her too much, it was just too painful. Then I left a couple of weeks later and we hadn't spoken since.

So there I was standing on the steps outside of Ali's funeral, not knowing if I was even going to go in. In the end I decided I had to, for Ali. No one even knew I was back yet either. As I walked in the door of the church there was no one in the foyer except for Ali's mum.

"Hi, Mrs DiLaurentis," I whispered, trying not to cry already.

"Shona? Oh my goodness, when did you get back?" She asked as she pulled me into a hug.

"Yesterday afternoon, then I saw it all over the news. I'm so sorry, Mrs DiLaurentis" I said.

"They're going to start soon. I've asked the other girls to sit up the front. It's what Alison would have wanted." Mrs DiLaurentis gave me a watery smile.

"Of course. I'll go in and sit down," I turned from her and walked through the open door to where the service was to take place, where hundreds of mourners had gathered to say goodbye. I walked as quickly as I could to the front row where I could see my friends sitting. "Hi guys," They looked up at me with mild shock appearing on their faces. I guess they hadn't heard I was back yet.

Aria Montgomery, Spencer Hastings, Hanna Marin, Emily Fields. It had been the six of us back then. Then when Ali went missing things got difficult between us. Well, not exactly difficult but we drifted apart and things just weren't working with us as friends. To be honest, Ali was like the glue of our group and we just sort of fell apart without her. We drifted apart that far that I didn't even say goodbye when I left.

The girls finally got over their shock at seeing me and moved along so that I could sit down. I ended up being next to Hanna and as I sat she took my hand. "I'm glad you're back," she murmured to me under her breath.

"Me too," I replied in the same manner.

"Can you believe Jason's not even here?" My breath hitched a little when she mentioned Jason. I hadn't even thought about him being here even though it's his sister's funeral.

"He's not? I hadn't noticed," I took a look around to make sure and what I saw made my heart almost stop. "Hanna, Jenna's here."

"What?" She turned round to make sure for herself and saw Jenna being helped into the pew by her stepbrother Toby. She paled a little and passed the news onto the other girls and I heard their exclamations (quiet ones of course) of shock.

"When did she come back to Rosewood?" Spencer whispered.

"I don't know, but what is she doing here?" Aria said.

"What if she's here to spill the beans about - ?"

"Hanna, shush," I interrupted. "We just have to hope not."

"I can't believe we have to worry about the Jenna thing again," Emily said, her voice tinged with worry.

"Guys," I said. "We don't have to worry about anything right now. She's probably not even back for that."

"You don't know that," Aria said. Any reply I had was cut off at my lips as at that moment the priest stepped forward to begin the service.

The church was packed full and it was all for Ali. She would have loved it. Not the being dead part, obviously, but being the centre of attention. Through the hymns and the speeches, it was all just so Ali that the entire time I was trying to hold back my tears. Some still managed to escape though and ran down my face. Hanna handed me a tissue – and a hip flask.

"I don't drink, Han." I said, discreetly sliding it back to her.

"You do today," She said handing it back to me. I silently agreed with her and slyly took a swig before holding back a cough.

"Jesus, Hanna!"

"And now we invite her friend's to come up and remember Allison." The priest's voice brought me back to where I was.

"Wait, what?"

"Just go Shona." Spencer said to me. When I stood up some mutters spread around the room, apparently my return was still a secret to those who hadn't seen me come into the church. Our group of five walked up to the altar where Ali's coffin rested and we turned to face the crowd of mourners. Hanna stepped forward, to stand at the microphone first.

"Ali was special in so many ways but I think one of the best things about her was that she always pushed people to be the best they could be. Even though some of the things she said could be taken as her being mean or cruel, it wasn't. It was just Ali being Ali, she thought she was being kinder in the long run. Ali may have had her faults but she was someone you couldn't help but love." As Hanna finished, Spencer stepped forward.

"Ali would've loved this. All the attention, I mean." A small chuckle ran through the crowd. "But she was just one of those people. You couldn't say no to her and you couldn't stay away even if you wanted to – which you generally didn't. I honestly don't even think she knew just how many people loved her. I don't think anyone will ever forget her. I know we won't." Emily walked towards Spencer and the mic, giving Spencer a hug before taking her place.

"I can't believe Ali's gone. She was my best friend and when she disappeared I never lost hope that she would come back. I still haven't. It's hard to imagine a world without Alison, it still seems like she's here sometimes. There are so many memories of her in this town that we all have, we can see her everywhere we go. I believe that as long as we keep her in our hearts, she will never truly leave us."

"Ali always knew just what to say to make you feel better." Aria began. "Whenever I was feeling down, she would usually be the one who would cheer me up. She was such a bubbly person, so full of life it's no wonder everyone gravitated towards her. She had her faults, we all do but her positivity and the positive things about who she was outshone them all, made them seem like they didn't matter. She was an amazing person, and doesn't deserve to be gone right now" As Aria turned around to re-join us in the line, she gave me a small smile. I walked forward, my feet feeling like bricks cemented to the ground. I stood at the microphone, looking out at all the mourners, at Ali's parents and…. I didn't know what to say. For the first time in my life, there were no words that wanted to come out of my mouth. I glanced back at those girls, those four very different girls who despite everything about them that said they shouldn't be became friends and it came to me. I knew what I should say.

"Alison was special, loved, unforgettable. That's all true. I don't want to rehash what the other girls have said though so rather than talk about just how special she was, how loved, hoe unforgettable I'm going to tell you what I think is the most amazing thing about her and how that will be her legacy." I paused to take a break and wipe away some of my tears. I look back at the four girls and beckon them towards me. As we joined hands so that Spencer and Aria were to my left and Emily and Hanna were to my right I continued. "Alison had an amazing talent of bringing people together. People that you would never in a million years expect to be friends becoming the closest friends on the planet. Even people who didn't like her would come together and bond over it. Even now she's gone she has brought us all together in mourning. And that's what I think the best thing about Alison is. That's why I'll remember her." When I finished speaking I pulled the girls towards me for a group hug. When we separated, we all faced Ali's coffin and laid our hand on it.

"We love you Ali," the words, spoken softly by us echoing around the silent church. As we retook our seats, the preacher returned to his place in order to say the final prayer of the sermon.

With the service concluded, everyone began to file out of the church but me and the girls stayed seated, just looking at Alison's coffin. Just taking a quiet, private moment to say goodbye to our best friend.

"I can't believe that's it, that she's gone," Aria said, clutching my hand.

"Come on guys, we should go." Spencer said, as she began to stand. We all stood with her and moved out of the pew. As we started to walk up the aisle my phone buzzed in my purse.

"You guys go ahead. It's probably just my mum." The girls nodded and kept walking towards the exit, stopping to hug Alison's parents on the way out. I fished my phone out of my purse to see that I had a message from a blocked number. When I opened the message, I almost dropped my phone at what I saw it said.

NICE SPEECH S. BUT WHAT TYPE OF FRIEND HOOKS UP WITH HER BESTIE'S BIG BROTHER? OR IS THAT WHAT YOU MEANT BY HER BRINGING PEOPLE TOGETHER?

A

Who was A? How did they know? How did they get my number? My mind was panicked as I made my way to join my friends outside, greeting Mr and Mrs DiLaurentis as I left. I cleared the look of worry of my face before my friends came into view.

When I turned the corner out of the church, I saw my friends standing together having a conversation with someone, a man I had never seen before. As I made my way over to join them the man turned round and saw me approaching.

"And this must be the globe travelling Miss Westwood."

"Yeah and who're you?" I shot back at him as I took my place next to my friends.

"I'm Detective Wilden. I understand you were one of the victim's good friends along with these ladies. As I was just saying to these ladies we're going to be going over your statements from the night Alison disappeared again considering this is now a murder investigation. I will find out what happened."

"You're not asking me or any of them anything unless I see some I.D," I said. He looked non-plussed though and handed me a business card. "Some actual I.D. Any idiot can print out business cards." Wilden showed me his shield and even I had to admit at that point he was legit.

"So that night – "He began.

"Nope," I said, "You're not asking any of us anything here. We are mourning our best friend, have some respect."

"Then, I'll be seeing you." He said and turned and walked away. We stared after him, the five of us as he was swallowed by the crowd. All I could think was, what do we do now? We turned out heads just in time to see Jenna be helped into a car. Despite my earlier reassurances to the girls, I was just as worried about her return to Rosewood as they were. Why was she back? Was it for revenge? We moved our heads away from Jenna to see Wilden just staring us. We kept moving.

"Do you think he knows about-?" Aria whispered, as soon as our backs were to him.

"No, how could he?" Hanna interrupted, as if to not let Aria say it out loud. At that moment, in perfect synchronisation, all of our phones began to ring.

"Oh my god," I said.

"It's from-"Hanna spoke just after me.

Spencer began to read out the message. "I'M STILL HERE, BITCHES…" We read the rest together. "AND I KNOW EVERYTHING. A." As I looked around my friends, who were all looking round as well, the fear that I knew was evident on my face was reflected back to me in my friends.

"I wasn't the only one who got a message from A, was I?" Their dead silence gave me my answer.


End file.
